Grains of sand - Zutara Week 2016
by Mammai
Summary: From Dragons to Candles. A drabble series for ZW 2016.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone,**

 **This is my first time trying to follow Zutara Week 2016. Today's prompt is Dragons. This was fun to write and one of the easier prompts for me.**

 **As always, no one belongs to me.**

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Katara was grumpy this morning. In spite of all these years as Fire Lady, she still didn't like to wake up in the morning. However, Zuko had asked her to meet him in the training arena today. Her husband was well aware of her penchant of sleeping in, so he must have had a good reason for wanting to see her.

Refusing the offer of assistance in getting dressed, Katara just pulled on the closest robe to leave their bedchamber. Her mood improved considerably when she realized that she'd grabbed her husband's robe. It threatened to swallow her as he was so much bigger than her. Still, the robe smelled like him and having put it on, Katara was reluctant to take it off. She decided to roll up the sleeves and fold it up at the waist. It wasn't like she was trying to make a fashion statement at the crack of dawn anyway.

Katara trudged down the hallway and was surprised to see the number of servants she met on the way to the training grounds.

 _Didn't anyone ever sleep in the Royal Palace?_

She realized that the same servants who had taken care of the palace business last night were not the ones that around this morning but it was far too early for rationality. She'd see what her husband wanted with her and then she was going back to bed.

She arrived at the arena to see that Zuko had already worked up a sweat. Katara's lips pulled into a smile at the sight of her husband. Ten years of marriage and two kids later, he still had the power to take her breath away. Time had been kind to him. At 31, Zuko was a powerfully built man. He had always been tall but over the years, he had grown into his frame. Katara watched as his muscles were stretched and pulled with ease to accommodate his exercises.

As Zuko finished his set, he noticed Katara at the entrance to the arena.

"Good morning, beautiful!"

"It's barely morning and I'm not sure if it's good yet."

Zuko grinned at her and walked up to claim a quick kiss. Katara turned her head at the last minute to make it a peck on her cheek.

At his raised eyebrow, she shrugged, "Morning breath."

"I'm sorry to drag you from your beauty sleep but I promise it'll be worth it."

She felt a nudge against her hand. She looked back to see her husband's pet nuzzling her. She supposed that the dragon would be considered a kid in dragon terms. If you can call an eight foot fire-breathing flying thing a kid. Zuko assured her that he really was a kid and that he would be much, _much_ bigger. Katara had to take his word for it since she had never met Ran and Shaw.

"Oh, hello Druk. I should have known you'd be here with him," She addressed the dragon.

Katara swore she saw the dragon smiling at her as she patted his ruby red head.

"He likes you." Zuko said over her shoulder.

"I like him too. I saw him grow up just the same as you. I may not be his kin but I am his adoptive mother. Isn't that right, Druk?"

As if in response, Druk wrapped his tail around her.

"Did you call me here to show off Druk? He _is_ bigger than two days ago."

"Patience, my love, while Druk is spectacular he's not why I called you here."

Beside her Druk huffed. Katara giggled at the dragon who was acting exactly like a child.

"It's okay, honey, he doesn't mean anything by it." She soothed him like she would her own kids.

Zuko rolled his eyes at the pair of them and then said, "Come on, Druk let's show her what we've been working on."

The dragon made no move to leave Katara's side.

"I think you hurt his feelings."

Zuko goggled at her, "Fine. Would you please come with me, Druk?"

This time the dragon followed his master and Katara _knew_ he was smiling.

"You might want to stand back a little." Zuko cautioned her.

Katara raised a brow at him but complied.

At a hand signal from Zuko, Druk let loose flames from his mouth. Katara's eyes watched her husband fondly when a few seconds later Zuko breathed fire as well.

He looked magnificent!

Katara watched mesmerized as master and pet went through the dragon dance. Zuko moved through the postures as Druk followed him. Muscles rippling as he stretched his arms, bent low, and then stretched back out. She had watched him do this many times and through the years had developed an appreciation for it. She suspected that it had a lot to do with the fact that she just liked watching her husband in his element.

At the very end of the dragon dance, Zuko and Druk let out flames from their mouths again and this time Katara was awestruck. Zuko's fire had the same colors as Druk! There were greens and purples mixed in with the reds and yellows. She had been around firebenders long enough to know that what her husband had done was unprecedented.

As soon as they stopped, she ran up to them and jumped into his arms. Vaguely she registered the ease with which he caught her even though she'd been running full tilt.

Kissing him soundly, she whispered, "That was incredible! How in the world did you learn to do that? What is it called?"

Zuko grinned at her, "Thank you! I was practicing with Druk one morning and felt a connection to him like I never had before. We practiced together for a few mornings and this is the result."

"It was beautiful! There are so many colors in it. You didn't tell me what you are calling it."

"I'm thinking of calling it 'dragon's breath.'"

"That's perfect. You looked magnificent out there." At the nudge on her shoulder from the Fire Lord's pet, she added. "You always look magnificent, Druk."

Druk seemed mollified by that and at a nod from Zuko took off to go back to his enclosure.

Katara turned back to her husband and told him, "You were right, this was so worth getting up. You looked like a dragon yourself out there."

Zuko grinned at her and for the first time seemed to notice what she was wearing.

"Is that my robe?"

"Yes, it is."

His eyes raked over her and turned mischievous.

"Well, you better fix it up unless you want to give the palace staff an eyeful on your way back to the bedchambers."

 _"Oh Agni_!"


	2. Reincarnation

**A/N: This is a nod to my reviewer ObeliskX. You wanted a gender bent and here it is. I know it's in a different form than you asked for and this is my best attempt. I can't see myself writing a female Zuko and male Katara in their original environs yet. I hope this works.**

 **Thanks to my amazing sister and beta, Smylealong, for reading this. All faults are my own. Also, they don't... oh wait up! these characters do belong to me. Yay!**

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Zoe sat by on the window seat of her apartment, alternatively reading her book and looking out the window. She was waiting for her husband, Kane, to show up. His shift at the hospital would be over soon and she knew that he would come home exhausted. She already had some dinner prepared for him in which she had kept mild. A small smile tugged at her mouth as she thought about how different they were from each other.

Kane was a born healer, a compassionate man that could never abandon anyone in need. His blue eyes should have seemed out of place on his tan skin but in reality made for a gorgeous combination. She had disliked her pale skin, with its penchant for getting burned, till she met him. He looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing on the planet and while she was with him, Zoe believed it.

Zoe was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of the key turning in the lock. She flew to the door, the forgotten book abandoned by the window seat. As soon as he stepped in, Zoe enveloped him in a hard hug. The sense of belonging was strong. She was struck by a sense that she'd done this over many, many lifetimes. Dismissing her thoughts as ridiculous, she let herself be held by him.

He seemed to need the contact as much as she did. She felt Kane bury his face in her hair and just inhale. She offered him the comfort he wordlessly asked for. After a long moment, he withdrew from her. She looked at his face to see fatigue etched over his features.

Zoe squeezed his hand and asked, "Why don't you take a shower while I heat up the food?"

He nodded and went off to do the same.

Zoe wondered what instinct had prompted her to cook his favorite comfort food. Now that she thought about it, they seemed to _know_ each other. Not the kind of knowing that comes from building a life together but the kind that was bone deep. Like she had known that it would be a tough day for him today, an instinct that she couldn't define.

"Something smells good."

"Kane!" Zoe whirled, "You startled me! It's your favorite, seafood soup."

"Tell me you didn't put a ton of chili flakes in it."

Zoe laughed, "No. I have some to add to mine at the table."

"Let me get the bowls and see you at the table."

Halfway through dinner Zoe asked him, "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Yes, I do. I didn't like you much."

"I remember that well. You were angry that my company was taking over the hospital and let me as much."

Kane grinned at the memory, "I still remember the expression you had. Very Princess to peasant."

Zoe raised a brow, "you were determined to take everything I said the wrong way."

"Excuse me but you didn't exactly do anything to inspire confidence."

Zoe flushed, "I was trying to cover the fact that I found you very attractive."

"Did you now? How is it that we've been married for two years and this is the first I'm hearing about it?"

"I didn't want to give you a bigger ego than you already have," Zoe sniffed.

Kane laughed, "Can I tell you a secret? I thought you were gorgeous too. I came into the meet expecting an old man and was instead faced with a goddess with the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen."

Zoe blushed and pointed to the scar down the left side of her face, "You are the only one that can see this and say I'm gorgeous."

A result of a childhood car accident, Zoe's scar ran from under her eye to her jaw. The doctors had repeatedly told her parents how lucky she was to still be able to see.

"And I've told you that you wouldn't be yourself without it."

Zoe contemplated his words.

"Kane," She began hesitantly, "Did you get the feeling that we were meant to be when we met?"

Her husband's expression turned contemplative. Slowly, he nodded.

"It was like something inside me heaved a sigh of relief and went 'there you are'"

"I know!" Zoe was ecstatic; at least she wasn't alone in these thoughts. "My first thought at seeing you was 'finally'"

"My friends at work had a bet going on how long we would go before making out."

"Didn't Thomas win that bet?"

"That and every other bet for the last seven years I've known him." Kane said with a grimace.

"I would have thought you were smart enough to stop making bets with him."

"I have. Suzy, however, refuses to learn" he said referring to his sister, who was an administrator at the hospital.

Zoe grinned at her husband, "How much longer are those two going to deny that they like each other?"

"Knowing Thomas and Suzy; till someone hits them on the head."

"I hope it is soon. I like them"

"And they like you love."

Later that night, Zoe was curled up with Kane when he brought up a surprising topic.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" he asked quietly.

Zoe scoffed, but acknowledged to herself that it was more a knee-jerk reaction than her actual thoughts.

"Do you?" She asked just as softly.

"I don't know. I can't explain this feeling that I've known you forever and beyond."

"We just love each other a lot, that's all"

"Yeah, that must be it." He accepted the explanation without argument, "Goodnight Zoe."

"Goodnight Kane"

As Zoe closed her eyes she had a strong feeling that this time they had gotten it right.


	3. Memories

**A/N: This takes place in the same universe as Reincarnation. This was a tough prompt to write because Kane did not want to share his thoughts with me. They do that. Anyway, anything you recognize does not belong to me.**

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Kane had always dreamed of golden eyes. He was a young boy when the dreams started. At 13, the dreams of a scarred, golden eyed boy getting off of a ship demanding to know where they were hiding Anna seemed more like a fantasy than anything else. As an adolescent, he was upset by the fact that in his dreams he was always a girl. A _girl_ who kind of looked like him but could do fantastic things with water.

His dreams evolved over the next year to include the golden eyed boy chasing her, trying to catch his friend, Anna. Kane thought he knew why his neighbor appeared in these dreams; he'd had a small crush on her for a while now. What baffled him was why everyone seemed to be of the opposite gender in these dreams. His best friend Thomas was a girl, Anna was a guy with extremely random blue tattoos all over her and Suzy was a boy. His older brother at that. He would privately scoff at the idea of Suzy being a guy. He didn't know of anyone more girly than her. Not wanting to be made fun of, he wisely kept all these dreams to himself.

He saw the boy promise to save him from the pirates; only to tie him to a tree and ask him about Anna, in exchange he offered his dream self a necklace. Kane never told anyone how fast his heart had been beating when he woke up to the feeling of the whispered promise in his ear. Like his dream self, Kane found himself wondering how the boy got his scar then promptly scoffed at himself. He was a dream character, not a real life person. Why in the world would it matter how that boy had gotten his scar.

The boy with the golden eyes didn't let him sleep in peace. He would show up on random nights, with no discernable pattern. He dreaded the one that recurred more than all of them, the two of them in a green cave and the girl touching the boy's scar before offering to heal it. Then the world around them would explode in flames. Kane would wake up from these dreams trembling in rage and betrayal, with the feeling of the ruined skin under his fingers.

During the next year he saw the boy, Zuko ( _what kind of a name was that anyway?)_ come to join them in a very interesting upside down structure. Kane could feel how angry he was with Zuko in his dreams and treated him horribly. When awake, Kane could figure out no reason why the girl, Katara ( _what was up with the names?),_ was so pissed at Zuko. He wondered how she could think that Zuko would forsake his family to join them without really knowing anything about Katara, Toph, Aang and Sokka.

Eventually Katara forgave Zuko ( _about time, in Kane's opinion)_ and hugged him. The first time Kane saw Katara hugging Zuko, he woke with a feeling that he was finally home. Kane pondered over that for a bit but shrugged and let it go. After all, he had a test that morning and needed to ace it if he wanted to get into medical school.

Another year and the dreams changed again; this time Zuko would leap in front of lighting to save her. Kane hated these dreams for he didn't know which ending he would see. The first one was the worst, Katara could not get to Zuko in time and the golden eyes would never open again. Kane woke up from those dreams shaking with a profound sense of loss.

The second one didn't make much sense to him, Katara would save his life, spend days taking care of the young man to make sure that he was healing properly and then go to Aang and confess her love for him. This one left Kane baffled, wondering if his dream self was delusional.

Kane's personal favorite was the third ending, the initial events being the same as second ending but then Katara would stay with Zuko. This ending had a sense of rightness to it that left Kane in a very good mood when he saw this version of the events.

Kane didn't dream about Zuko and Katara's story after his first year of medical college. The dreams that had been such an integral part of his life for the last six years became memories for him. In a way he missed them but was too busy with school to give it much more than a passing thought.

The next few years passed in a blur for him as he graduated from med school, did his internship and landed a coveted position in a great hospital. He loved being a doctor and genuinely loved to help people. Which is why when he heard that a corporation was taking over the hospital he was furious. He stormed to the office where he knew the new owners were waiting. Everything inside him screeched to a halt as the lady in the office turned to look at him.

Here ( _at last!_ ) were the golden eyes from his memories.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This was a lot of fun to write. the story is based off of a real life incident. One of our close friends was the character played by Zuko in this story. So as soon as I saw the prompt, this story begged to be written. I've tried to keep them in character but it is an AU.**

 **As usual, they are not mine. Just the experience is.**

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Katara was really excited that evening. It was their turn to host the monthly barbecue for the gang and it was the first time that they were hosting it in their new apartment. She and Zuko were still newlyweds and this was their first apartment together. The gang would show up soon and she had cleaned the place till it shone. Zuko had shaken his head at her but left her to obsess over the details. Katara hoped that they had enough meat to satisfy the bottomless pit that was Sokka. Since vegetables were really not her specialty, Aang was bringing skewers of that for himself.

She grinned widely and hugged herself. Sometimes, she said the word 'husband' just to taste it; the word was still so new and shiny when applied to Zuko. She heard him call out to her from the doorway. He was back with the ice-cream. What barbecue was complete without scoops of the sweet treat? Katara greeted him with an enthusiastic kiss that had Zuko raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'll put these away," she told him, "Go get changed."

"What's wrong with what I have on now?" Zuko indicated the shorts and tee he was wearing.

"Nothing but I just wanted you to wear the new shorts that I got for you last week."

"Ah!" Zuko nodded.

As Katara turned towards the kitchen she missed his grimace as he moved towards the bedroom to go change.

The doorbell rang and Katara welcomed Aang and Toph who were as usual the first to arrive. Her brother was always late for everything. They had barely walked in the door when Sokka and Suki showed up behind them. Everybody gaped at them and Sokka asked irritably

"What?"

"You guys are on time!" Aang exclaimed.

"Come on. It's not like we're always late." Sokka tried to defend himself.

Toph snorted.

"What?" Sokka asked indignantly.

"So tell me, Sokka," Katara teased, "When was the last time you were on time for anything? Mom used to say you were even late to be born!"

The laughter increased at Katara's statement.

Sokka stuck his tongue out at Katara, causing her to retort, "Very mature, brother."

"Well, don't stand at the door, come in!" Zuko called to his friends.

It was after everyone had gotten drinks and were lounging in chairs that Toph asked Zuko.

"I have to ask, Zuko, what the hell are you wearing?"

A little defensively, Zuko answered, "A pair of shorts and a tee."

"I'm sure Toph meant to ask you the color of those shorts, Zuko." Katara chimed in.

Before Zuko could open his mouth, Sokka chimed in.

"What do you mean what color? They're blue, of course."

Zuko sneaked a glance at Katara and at her expectant expression said, "They're lilac."

Absolute silence greeted this sentence as his friends gaped at him in horror. Suki's snicker seemed to penetrate the shock around the sitting room.

"Li…lilac?" Sokka squeaked, "What the hell is lilac?"

"It's a mixture of red and blue; and is a pale violet tone." Katara informed them primly.

Toph guffawed.

Aang looked thunderstruck.

Sokka recovered sufficiently to say, "Bro, you just lost some major dude points." He shook his head sadly at Zuko.

Katara faced them all with hands on his hips and asked, "What's wrong with you all?"

Aang tried to explain, "No guy should know about a color called lilac," Spitting the word out like it tasted foul in his mouth. "Blue, dark blue and light blue are enough."

"That's stupidly sexist." Katara said, before spinning on her heel to go to the kitchen.

Zuko gave his friends a glare and followed his wife to try and calm her down.

"Lilac. I can't believe he said lilac." Suki said with a shake of her head before bursting into laughter with the rest of them.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This is more of a drabble than an actual story. sorry about that. Modern AU.**

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Zuko walked into his flat with a sigh of relief. A groan escaped his lips as he collapsed on the couch, laid his head on the back of the couch and shut his eyes.

"What's the matter?" Toph asked, "You look beat."

"I think I might be coming down with the flu." He replied with his eyes still shut tight.

"Didn't Katara have a bout of flu just last week?" She asked.

"Yeah, she did." He lifted his head and opened one eye, "Maybe I should call her to ask what meds the doctor told her to take for it."

"That's not going to help you buddy." Sokka chimed in.

"Huh?" Zuko had shut his eyes again and missed the wink Sokka sent Toph.

"This is not something that can be cured so easily." He said sagely. "You made a good decision in seeking my sister's help."

"What the hell are you on about?" Zuko asked, irritated and glaring at Sokka.

"I'm telling you that the doctors and nurses cannot help you, only my sister can."

Toph's snicker should have been a clue for Zuko but his head was swimming.

"Sokka," Zuko was sitting up fully now, "Katara _wants_ to become a doctor. She's not one yet and won't be for a few years. And even if she were, why on earth would she be only person to be able to cure a fever?"

"Because Zuko, what you have ain't the flu. It is a far more grave than that. It's the 'Fever of Love'."

Toph's palm met her forehead.

Zuko groaned and got up. "I'm too sick for this shit," He said as he walked towards his room.

The flat, however, wasn't big enough to keep Toph's laughter and Sokka's voice from reaching his ears as he sang.

"The fever of love is like a hundred above. You are the one that turns me on."*

*song by Sweet


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Another almost real life experience. Me and the green lady are friends now but boy did she confuse me the first time I went in there. Enjoy! Very very AU: canon Z &K in the modern, real world.**

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It was all Sokka's fault really that Zuko and Katara were more than a little confused at the moment. They were trying this place out at his suggestion. He had raved about this place. Going on and on about how amazing it was and how delicious it's fare.

It looked like a really popular place since there were quite a few people there. They walked in and sat at one of the tables. After a few minutes they realized that they had to get in line to order because they had no servers. Zuko bristled at this and murmured to Katara that it was unseemly for the fire lord to stand in line. Katara reminded him that none of these people knew him or cared about his status.

Their next moment of bafflement was when they looked at the menu. It was supposedly a coffee shop but very few things on the menu were called coffee. There were things called espressos, cappuccinos and Frappuccinos.

Katara and Zuko looked at each other in confusion. Neither one of them knew what any of this was. What in the world were they going to do? Katara came up with the idea that they should listen to the other people order and that would give them some clues. Zuko beamed at his wife and agreed.

The first order they heard left them speechless. The man, wearing what looked like torn pants, ordered a 'Venti Caramel macchiato with a double espresso shot to go'. Zuko asked Katara if she'd heard the same thing he had. At her dazed nod, he felt a little bit better. The ladies at behind the counter, however, did not seem fazed at all. Fascinated, he watched the girls behind the counter deal with loud machines and then add a few different things to the drink before presenting it to the man.

Zuko realized that in watching the process of the drink being made, he had completely missed the order of the woman standing behind the man. He groaned in frustration and asked Katara if she'd paid attention to what the lady had ordered. She told him that the lady in question had ordered something called 'Dopplo espresso con panna for here'. They watched as the woman got a steaming cup and sat down at a nearby table.

They decided to wait for another person to order and soon enough another lady came in to order. She had quite a few drinks to order. While they didn't hear all of the order, they managed to catch 'grande cappucchino' and 'tall vanilla latte'.

They discussed their order and concluded that being that espresso was the first item on the menu; it was most likely to be this 'coffee' thing. With no small amount of trepidation Zuko walked up to the counter and placed his order. He had a moment of panic when the girl asked him if he wanted solo or dopplo. His look must have tipped the girl taking his order to the fact that he was a newcomer and asked him if he wanted a small or medium cup. Smiling in relief, Zuko confirmed that a small cup would suffice.

When he brought the steaming hot cup to the table, Katara was clearly apprehensive. They both looked at the cup like they expected it to jump up and bite them. Katara asked Zuko to take the first sip since he was the firebender and the liquid in the cup looked scalding.

Zuko took a sip and as soon as it hit his mouth, his eyes went wide. It was his years of being in court that had him swallowing the sip. Katara was not at all encouraged by his reaction but she had promised to take a sip and with a pounding heart, she did…

It was very long time before either of them forgave Sokka.


End file.
